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Monday, September 13, 2010

A Fun & Earth Friendly Craft....

Remember the review I did recently of TerraCycle? Love them and all their eco-friendly products! The boys are still fighting over their juice box lunch bag and pencil case!

I wanted to share something fun TerraCycle and Colgate are doing. They are working together on a curriculum. Check it out...

TerraCycle and Colgate are both offering their own FREE curriculums; Colgate seeking to teach kids how to keep their mouths clean and TerraCycle seeking to teach kids how to Outsmart Waste! Both curriculums can be used at school or in the home and both meet national education standards.

For the past 15 years, the Colgate curriculum, which is a part of the award-winning Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® global oral health education program, has reached over 50 million children annually and their families in 30 languages and 80 countries throughout the world.

TerraCycle¹s brand new curriculum series, which will be released three times a year, was developed by the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education and the first release focuses on teaching kids of all ages groups, from K-12, about Natural Laws &Principals of the Materials Cycle.

1. Collect five Colgate toothpaste tubes. Clean them by cutting off the bottom and slipping your scissors into the side seam. Flatten them out and clean with soap and water.

2. Cut four tubes to 3 ½” x 4 ½” and one tube into a 3 ½” x 3 ½” square. Fold down the top ½” of the four rectangular tubes and tape.

3. Take one of the four rectangles and punch holes every1/2 inch along the two tall sides and along the short bottom side that is not folded. Use this punched piece as a template and punch holes in the exact same spots on the other three rectangular pieces.

4. To punch the small square piece, line up the short punched side of the rectangle piece with any side of the short piece. Repeat punching holes for the other three sides of the square using the short side of the rectangular piece as a template.

5. Then punch two holes near the center of the square. This will be the bottom of the container and the holes will be for drainage.

6. Match up two large pieces and lace up one side tying it off at the top and bottom. Open it up. On one of the non-laced ends, attach to the next rectangular piece in the same way with the printed sides facing out. Repeat for each additional rectangular piece. When you¹ve laced all four pieces, connect the two end pieces together and lace creating a cube with your pieces.

7. Match up the square piece with the bottom of the container. Use binder clips to hold it in place. Lace around the bottom of the container and tie it off. You¹re ready to put your upcycled toothbrush holder into action.

Tip: This toothbrush holder can also double as a pencil holder!

If you have completed this project and still have more toothpaste tubes and other oral care products to upcycle, be sure to sign up for the TerraCycle (www.terracycle.net ) oral care brigade and send them in. These items will be transformed into new products, and better yet, your collection will earn money for your favorite charity!